By Lynn Selich | Society Editor
California’s newest hospital – Hoag Hospital Irvine – celebrated its grand opening recently in front of 450 distinguished guests and dignitaries including many from Newport Beach.
The hospital, scheduled to open Sept. 1, will be one of the premier community health care facilities in Southern California and replaces the closed hospital facility formerly known as Irvine Regional Hospital and Medical Center. Hoag entered a long-term lease agreement for the closed hospital property and completely renovated it to meet modern health care standards, an $84 million effort to complement Hoag’s other top medical facilities.
Richard Afable, M.D., president and CEO of Hoag, welcomed guests and thanked everyone for their hard work and dedication to bring world-class healthcare to this region. He announced that more than 900 jobs were created by opening Hoag Hospital Irvine.
Dr. Afable led the ribbon cutting alongside Mayor Kang, Robert Braithwaite, chief administrative officer for Hoag Hospital Irvine and Sandy Smith, senior vice president of real estate, facilities, construction and operations at Hoag. Robert Braithwaite addressed the crowd as well saying that opening a new hospital today with advanced medical technology is a significant accomplishment.
“In the midst of national health care reform and an economic downturn, we are pleased to be able to bring a new state-of-the-art hospital online,” he said.
The new hospital features:
– Advanced operating rooms with new technology that supports modern minimally invasive surgical techniques, including image-guided surgeries;
– One of the preeminent cardiovascular centers on the West Coast and two state-of-the-art catheterization labs;
– A radiology department with a larger opening MRI and the most advanced high-definition, low-dose radiation CT scanner in the Western U.S.;
– An Orthopedics Center of Excellence focusing primarily on adult reconstruction, such as hip, knee and shoulder replacement, spine surgery, and trauma that requires inpatient care; and
– A fully staffed Emergency Department that has been re-engineered to wrap life-saving diagnostic tools, labs, and clinical and imaging technology around it to provide quicker access and treatment for patients in the greatest need.
High-quality patient-centered care and one of the finest nursing staffs in the country are hallmarks of the new hospital. Hoag is one of only 20 hospitals in California to earn the Magnet distinction for excellence in nursing and its nurse-to-patient ratio exceeds all state-mandated levels.
For more information, visit www.hoag.org.
